Adelson tally to Gingrich: $20M

Even as Newt Gingrich’s campaign teetered on the edge of collapse in March, the wife of a casino mogul gave a pro-Gingrich super PAC another $5 million.

The contribution brought the Adelson family’s pro-Gingrich tally to $20 million — a figure Sheldon Adelson himself was floating in December, POLITICO reported.

Story Continued Below

The Adelsons almost single-handedly funded Winning Our Future’s operations since its inception in December, but in recent days, Adelson has signaled he will put his wealth behind establishment Republican candidates.

The super PAC, Winning Our Future, ended last month with $5.76 million in its account, having raised $5.05 million while spending $1.55 million, federal records indicate.

But Gingrich’s campaign, in contrast, began to financially implode. Its debt rose dramatically to $4.3 million in March as the campaign struggled to raise money and paired back its operations after failing to consolidate support among voters.

Federal Election Commission reports show that the campaign spent $2 million in March but only raised about $1.7 million, a drop from the $2.6 million it raised in February. Gingrich had $1.2 million cash on hand at the end of the month.

At the end of March, Gingrich restructured his campaign, cutting staff and limiting his schedule to refocusing on a non-electoral strategy aimed at the Republican National Convention in Tampa. However, that move came only after the campaign had spent $37,000 on ballot access, $500,000 on telemarketing, and $333,000 in media buys online and at the state level.

The Gingrich campaign’s financial woes have been aided by high expenses.

In March, Gingrich dropped $265,000 on travel, including $29,000 to Moby Dick Airways for chartered flights. In total, Gingrich’s campaign owes the charter flight company more than $1 million — the largest debt owed by the campaign to a single vendor.

Gingrich’s debts are numerous and various: About 50 creditors are owed five- or six-figure amounts.

Former presidential candidate Herman Cain’s political action committee was reimbursed $536 for travel at the end of March. And Gingrich’s daughters Kathy Lubbers and Jackie Cushman were reimbursed $5,400 and $4,900 respectively for travel.

The campaign has also refunded more than $15,000 in contributions in March.